Environmental sustainability, energy consumption, and tourism are the most discussed topics in the literature. However, limited studies have catered to the relationship among these variables. From this perspective: the current study aims to find the nexus between tourism, energy alternatives, financial development, and pollution emissions by targeting the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies. We employ the data of six GCC economies for the years 2000–2019 and adopt fully modified ordinary least square and generalized least square approaches to establish the regression. The findings reveal a positive impact on the number of tourist arrivals (ITAs) while a negative impact on tourism receipts on pollution emissions. Similarly, fossil fuel energy (FFE) shows a positive while renewable energy depicts a negative relationship with CO2 emissions. This positive impact of tourist arrivals and fossil fuel energy was moderated by financial development. In addition to individual analysis, the developed financial sector can help to reduce the negative externalities of ITA and FFE. The empirical analysis further documents the positive impact of all control variables including foreign investment, economic growth, and gross capital formation on CO2 emissions. Based on empirical results, it is recommended to bring financial development into the picture to reduce the negative impact of ITA and FFE on environmental quality. This study put forward the literature by adding innovative thoughts regarding the moderating role of financial development in the nexus between tourism, energy alternatives, and CO2 emissions.
AhmadMIşıkCJabeenG, et al. (2021a). Heterogeneous links among urban concentration, non-renewable energy use intensity, economic development, and environmental emissions across regional development levels. The Science of the total environment, 765, 144527.
2.
AhmadMAkhtarNJabeenG, et al. (2021b). Intention-based critical factors affecting willingness to adopt Novel Coronavirus prevention in Pakistan: Implications for future pandemics. Int J Environ Res Pub Health, 18(11), 6167.
3.
AhmadMJabeenGShahSAA, et al. (2022). Assessing long-and short-run dynamic interplay among balance of trade, aggregate economic output, real exchange rate, and CO2 emissions in Pakistan. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 24(5), 7283–7323.
4.
AimerN (2021). Economic policy uncertainty and exchange rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Ekonomi, 3(2), 119–127.
5.
AlKharsMAAlwahaishiSFallatahMR, et al. (2022). A literature review of the environmental Kuznets curve in GCC for 2010–2020. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 14, 100181.
6.
AndradesLDimancheF (2017). Destination competitiveness and tourism development in Russia: Issues and challenges. Tourism Management, 62, 360–376.
7.
AssafAGJosiassenA (2012). Identifying and ranking the determinants of tourism performance: A global investigation. Journal of Travel Research, 51(4), 388–399.
8.
AvcıP.Sumerli̇ SarigulS2022). Is the performance of the companies operating in the participation index in the Turkish economy affected by the macroeconomic perspective?Journal of Ekonomi, 4(3), 63–73.
9.
BaekJChoYKooWW (2009). The environmental consequences of globalization: A country-specific time-series analysis. Ecological Economics, 68(8–9), 2255–2264.
10.
BélaïdF.YoussefM., (2017). Environmental degradation, renewable and non-renewable electricity consumption, and economic growth: assessing the evidence from Algeria. Energy Policy, 102, 277-287.
11.
BreuschTSPaganAR (1980). The Lagrange multiplier test and its applications to model specification in econometrics. The Review of Economic Studies, 47(1), 239–253.
12.
BuiDT (2020). Transmission channels between financial development and CO2 emissions: A global perspective. Heliyon, 6(11), e05509.
13.
ÇetinMSarıgülSSIşıkC, et al. (2023). The impact of natural resources, economic growth, savings, and current account balance on financial sector development: Theory and empirical evidence. Resources Policy, 81, 103300.
14.
ChenJWangLJXuGJ, et al. (2018). Highly stable Zr(IV)-Based porphyrinic metal-organic frameworks as an adsorbent for the effective removal of gatifloxacin from aqueous solution. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 23, 937–950.
15.
ChenJLiMXieC (2022). Transportation connectivity strategies and regional tourism economy - empirical analysis of 153 cities in China. Tourism Review, 77(1), 113–128.
16.
Collins-KreinerN (2019). Pilgrimage tourism-past, present and future rejuvenation: A perspective article. Tourism Review, 75(1), 145-148. doi: 10.1108/TR-04-2019-0130
17.
DickeyDAFullerWA (1979). Distribution of the estimators for autoregressive time series with a unit root. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 74(366), 427–431.
18.
DogruTIsikCSirakaya-TurkE (2019). The balance of trade and exchange rates: Theory and contemporary evidence from tourism. Tourism Management, 74, 12–23. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2019.01.014
19.
DogruTBulutUKocakE, et al. (2020). The nexus between tourism, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions: contemporary evidence from OECD countries. Environmental science and pollution research international, 27, 40930–40948. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-10110-w
20.
DogruTMcGinleySSharma A, et al. (2023). Employee turnover dynamics in the hospitality industry vs. the overall economy. Tourism Management, 99, 104783. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104783
21.
DongKSunRHochmanG, (2017). Do natural gas and renewable energy consumption lead to less CO2 emission? Empirical evidence from a panel of BRICS countries. Energy, 141, 1466–1478.
22.
EllisAParkEKimS, et al. (2018). What is food tourism?Tourism Management, 68, 250–263.
23.
FarooqU (2022). Foreign direct investment, foreign aid, and CO2 emissions in Asian economies: Does governance matter?Environmental science and pollution research international, 29(5), 7532–7547.
24.
de GrosboisDFennellDA (2022). Determinants of climate change disclosure practices of global hotel companies: Application of institutional and stakeholder theories. Tourism Management, 88, 104404.
25.
Sharif HossainM (2011). Panel estimation for CO2 emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, trade openness and urbanization of newly industrialized countries. Energy policy, 39(11), 6991–6999.
26.
ImKSPesaranMHShinY (2003). Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels. Journal of Econometrics, 115(1), 53–74.
27.
IsaevaASalahodjaevRKhachaturovA, et al. (2022). The impact of tourism and financial development on energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission: Evidence from post-communist countries. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 13(1), 773–786.
28.
IşıkCKasımatıEOnganS (2017). Analyzing the causalities between economic growth, financial development, international trade, tourism expenditure and/on the CO2 emissions in Greece. Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 12(7), 665-–73. doi: 10.1080/15567249.2016.1263251
29.
IşıkCDogruTTurkES (2018). A nexus of linear and non‐linear relationships between tourism demand, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth: theory and evidence. International Journal of Tourism Research, 20(1), 38–49. doi: 10.1002/jtr.2151
30.
IşıkCSirakaya-TurkEOnganS (2020a). Testing the efficacy of the economic policy uncertainty index on tourism demand in USMCA: Theory and evidence.Tourism Economics, 26(8), 1344–1357. doi: 10.1177/1354816619888346
31.
IșikCAhmadMPataUK, et al. (2020b). An evaluation of the tourism-induced environmental Kuznets curve (T-EKC) hypothesis: Evidence from G7 Countries. Sustainability, 12(21), 9150. doi: 10.3390/su12219150
32.
JabeenGWangDIşıkC, et al. (2023). Role of energy utilization intensity, technical development, economic openness, and foreign tourism in environmental sustainability. Gondwana Research. doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2023.03.001
33.
JalilAFeridunM (2011). The impact of growth, energy and financial development on the environment in China: A cointegration analysis. Energy Economics, 33(2), 284–291.
34.
JayanthakumaranKVermaRLiuY (2012). CO2 emissions, energy consumption, trade and income: A comparative analysis of China and India. Energy Policy, 42, 450–460.
35.
JensenAL (1996). Beverton and Holt life history invariants result from optimal trade-off of reproduction and survival. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 53(4), 820–822.
36.
JianguoDAliKAlnoriF, et al. (2022). The Nexus of financial development, technological innovation, institutional quality, and environmental quality: Evidence from OECD Economies. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29, 58179–58200.
37.
JunWMahmoodHZakariaM (2020). Impact of trade openness on environment in China. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 21(4), 1185–1202.
38.
KaragözDIşıkCDogruT, et al. (2021). Solo female travel risks, anxiety and travel intentions: Examining the moderating role of online psychological-social support. Current Issues in Tourism, 24(11), 1595–1612. doi: 10.1080/13683500.2020.1816929
39.
KaragözDSuess-RaeisinafchiCIşıkC, et al. (2023). Event motivation, subjective well-being, and revisit intentions during the second wave of the pandemic: Moderating effect of affective risk about COVID-19 and perceived trust. Current Issues in Tourism, 1–18. doi: 10.1080/13683500.2022.2158787
40.
KatircioğluST (2014). Testing the tourism-induced EKC hypothesis: The case of Singapore. Economic Modelling, 41, 383–391.
41.
KatirciogluSTFeridunMKilincC (2014). Estimating tourism-induced energy consumption and CO2 emissions: The case of Cyprus. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 29, 634–640.
42.
KoçakEUlucakRUlucakZŞ (2020). The impact of tourism developments on CO2 emissions: An advanced panel data estimation. Tourism Management Perspectives, 33, 100611.
43.
KuoKCLiuMLaiSL (2012). Effect of tourism development on energy consumption, CO2 and economic growth in China. Advanced Materials Research, 524–527, 3380–3383.
44.
LeT-HNguyenCP (2021). The impact of tourism on carbon dioxide emissions: Insights from 95 countries. Applied Economics, 53(2), 235–261.
45.
LeT-HChangYParkD (2016). Trade Openness and Environmental Quality: International Evidence. Energy Policy, 92, 45–55.
46.
LinZChenYFilieriR (2017). Resident-tourist value co-creation: The role of residents’ perceived tourism impacts and life satisfaction. Tourism Management, 61, 436–442.
47.
LiobikienėGButkusM (2019). Scale, composition, and technique effects through which the economic growth, foreign direct investment, urbanization, and trade affect greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable Energy, 132, 1310–1322.
48.
LuC-WHuangJ-CChenC, et al. (2021). An energy-efficient smart city for sustainable green tourism industry. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 47, 101494.
49.
MishraHGPanditaSBhatAA, et al. (2022). Tourism and carbon emissions: A bibliometric review of the last three decades: 1990–2021. Tourism Review, 77(2), 636–658.
50.
MujtabaAJenaPKBekunFV, et al. (2022). Symmetric and asymmetric impact of economic growth, capital formation, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on environment in OECD countries. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 160, 112300.
51.
NepalRIndra al IrsyadMNepalSK (2019). Tourist arrivals, energy consumption and pollutant emissions in a developing economy–implications for sustainable tourism. Tourism Management, 72, 145–154.
52.
OnganSIşikCÖzdemirD. 2017. The effects of real exchange rates and income on international tourism demand for the USA from some European Union countries.Economies, 5(4), p. 51. DOI: 10.3390/economies5040051
53.
OnganSIşıkCBulutU, et al. (2022). Retesting the EKC hypothesis through transmission of the ARMEY curve model: An alternative composite model approach with theory and policy implications for NAFTA countries. Environmental science and pollution research international, 29(31), 46587–46599. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-19106-0
54.
OnganSIşıkCAminA, et al. (2023). Are economic growth and environmental pollution a dilemma?Environ Sci Pollut Res, 30, 49591–49604. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-25698-y
55.
OzturkIAcaravciA (2013). The long-run and causal analysis of energy, growth, openness and financial development on carbon emissions in Turkey. Energy Economics, 36, 262–267.
56.
ParamatiSRAlamMSChenCF (2017). The effects of tourism on economic growth and CO2 emissions: A comparison between developed and developing economies. Journal of Travel Research, 56(6), 712–724.
57.
ParkEChoiB-KLeeTJ (2019). The role and dimensions of authenticity in heritage tourism. Tourism Management, 74, 99–109.
58.
PesaranMHShinYSmithRJ (2001). Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 16(3), 289–326.
59.
PhillipsPCHansenBE (1990). Statistical inference in instrumental variables regression with I(1) processes. The Review of Economic Studies, 57(1), 99–125.
60.
QalatiSAKumariSTajeddiniK, et al. (2023). Innocent devils: the varying impacts of trade, renewable energy and financial development on environmental damage: Nonlinearly exploring the disparity between developed and developing nations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 386, 135729.
61.
RahmanMM (2020). Environmental degradation: The role of electricity consumption, economic growth and globalisation. Journal of Environmental Management, 253, 109742.
62.
RasoolimaneshSMJaafarMAhmadAG, et al. (2017). Community participation in World Heritage Site conservation and tourism development?Tourism Management, 58, 142–153.
63.
RicoAMartínez-BlancoJMontlleóM, et al. (2019). Carbon footprint of tourism in Barcelona. Tourism Management, 70, 491–504.
64.
SadorskyP (2011). Financial development and energy consumption in Central and Eastern European Frontier economies. Energy Policy, 39(2), 999–1006.
65.
SalehASBassilCSafariA (2021). Tourism research for the GCC region: Current status and future research directions. Tourism Economics, 28, 1626–1646.
66.
SarwarS (2022). Impact of energy intensity, green economy and blue economy to achieve sustainable economic growth in GCC countries: Does Saudi Vision 2030 matters to GCC countries. Renewable Energy, 191, 30–46.
67.
SelvanathanEAJayasingheMSelvanathanS (2021). Dynamic modelling of inter‐relationship between tourism, energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic growth in South Asia. International Journal of Tourism Research, 23(4), 597–610.
68.
SinghS (2022a). Tourism, money supply, and progressive inflation. Journal of Ekonomi, 4(1), 38–45.
69.
SinghSKanaujiaRAgnihotriS, et al. (2022b). The comparative evaluation of the fujifilm wako β-glucan assay and fungitell assay for diagnosing invasive fungal disease. Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland), 9(1), 6–13.
70.
TalbiB (2017). CO2 emissions reduction in road transport sector in Tunisia. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 69, 232–238.
71.
WangQWuS-dZengY-e, et al. (2016). Exploring the relationship between urbanization, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in different provinces of China. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 54, 1563–1579.
72.
ZafarMWZaidiSAHSinhaA, et al. (2019). The role of stock market and banking sector development, and renewable energy consumption in carbon emissions: Insights from G-7 and N-11 countries. Resources Policy, 62, 427–436.
73.
ZaidiSAHHussainMUz ZamanQ (2021). Dynamic linkages between financial inclusion and carbon emissions: Evidence from selected OECD countries. Resources, Environment and Sustainability, 4, 100022.
74.
ZamanKShahbazMLoganathanN, et al. (2016). Tourism development, energy consumption and Environmental Kuznets Curve: Trivariate analysis in the panel of developed and developing countries. Tourism Management, 54, 275–283.
75.
ZenkerSKockF (2020). The coronavirus pandemic–A critical discussion of a tourism research agenda. Tourism Management, 81, 104164.
76.
ZhangY-J (2011). The impact of financial development on carbon emissions: An empirical analysis in China. Energy Policy, 39(4), 2197–2203.
77.
ZhangJZhangY (2021). Tourism, economic growth, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in China. Tourism Economics, 27(5), 1060–1080.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
